IT was enough to put me off my Sunday morning porridge.
I’m talking, of course, about the sickening front page pictures of Brett Kavanaugh being sworn into the US Supreme Court, his wife and two young daughters looking on demurely.
Was there any hint of regret, shame or even irony in the photograph, any sense at all of the disgraceful events that had led to this farcical moment? Of course not. The smug self-righteousness on the face of this privileged and powerful man as he was appointed for life said it all: the system backed me up; I am the system.
To many, the fact that the Senate backed Mr Kavanaugh’s nomination looks like a damning and very personal rejection of the testimony of Dr Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who alleged she had been sexually assaulted by him when they were in high school together. They didn’t believe her, so they voted for him, right?
The truth is, her very brave and credible testimony under questioning by senators probably had very little bearing on the result of vote, since the exercise was never about whether Mr Kavanaugh was a worthy recipient of this most responsible of positions in US society.
No, Mr Kavanaugh was always going to get the nomination because President Donald Trump promised the Christian right he would deliver another conservative judge on the Supreme Court. And deliver he has, thus ensuring the body that arbitrates US law and has the ultimate say on contentious issues such as abortion and gun control, has a built-in conservative majority for the foreseeable future.
Make no mistake, the Republicans who make up the majority in the Senate were always signed-up to this result, so even as they pretended to listen carefully and respectfully to Dr Blasey Ford, as they made a point of contorting their faces into looks of faux concern, they were only ever going to vote one way.
As hard as it has been for us in the UK to comprehend how the freak show of this nomination has been allowed to unfold in such a disgraceful way, it’s perhaps even more difficult to face the bigger picture.
I got a fascinating insight into its grim realities over the summer while visiting the southern states, which is where my husband comes from. I didn’t find many folk that actually liked Mr Trump and his loud, maladroit style in rural Arkansas or Tennessee, but most agreed with his policies and a significant number backed him solely on the basis of his Supreme Court promise.
When you’re poor in that part of the world, with few opportunities, little education and terrible healthcare, or indeed wealthy and scared of losing it, there’s a fair chance you fall back on the myth of the American Dream.
In the South, of course, that is likely to involve a God-fearing, conservative way of life that sees itself as under threat from “un-American” influences such as abortion and gay marriage. Sunday sermons genuinely talk of God having sent Donald Trump from heaven to ensure another conservative judge is put on the Supreme Court.
I remember asking one woman how a Christian such as herself could vote for a three-times married adulterer accused of sexually assaulting a string of women. The answer she gave went something like this: Donald Trump is a sinner, but we’re all sinners. God will help Donald Trump to be a better person. God has made Donald Trump president for a reason, to make America great again.
It’s hard to argue with political expediency when it is presented as blind faith. The Bible Belt was prepared to make a deal with the devil when it backed Mr Trump, and two years in, both parties are seeing the benefits.
Indeed, the Kavanaugh nomination is a significant moment for both, a quid pro quo, certainly, but also a chance to consolidate and extend a relationship that is clearly paying dividends.
It came at just the right time for Mr Trump, for whom next month’s midterm elections have the potential to make or break his presidency. Losing control of one or both houses of Congress to the Democrats could lead to a deluge of further investigations into his actions and behaviour, an outcome he will no doubt be extremely keen to avoid.
The events of the last few days, the knowledge that he has delivered on a key promise to his Bible Belt base, will fill him with confidence.
Add to that the fact that the US economy is on the up, at the same time as the charge of the Democrats appears to be slowing down, and like it or not things appear to be looking rather good for Mr Trump on November 06.
I don’t wish to tempt fate, but there’s a good chance we will look back on the Kavanaugh vote as the moment when the president set out his stall for a second term in office.
So, as much as the pictures of Mr Kavanaugh being sworn into the US Supreme court can and will be viewed as a symbol of his annihilation of Dr Blasey Ford, a reiteration of his power, it is something else, too: Donald Trump grimly reminding us who’s boss.
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